Fleetwood School District faces financial challenges

The Fleetwood School Board has received a grim three-year budget projection from Business Manager Heidi Orth.

The projections were based on assumed annual increases without tax hikes of 1 percent in real estate tax revenue, 3 percent in earned income tax revenue, 2.5 percent in the basic state subsidy and 1 percent in state special education subsidies.

The net result shows the budget climbing from $46.8 million in 2018-19 to $50.6 million by 2021-22.

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The deficits projected without tax increases go from $1.6 million in 2018-19 to $3.4 million by 2021-22. With tax increases to the Act 1 index of about 3.2 percent annually the deficits still range from $730,000 next year to $580,000 by 2021-22.

The district's fund balance, which has already been tapped to lessen deficits, is down to 5 percent or about $2.3 million. It cannot be further reduced without a change in board policy and endangering the district's credit rating, Orth said.

Regarding a continued use of fund balance to ease deficits she said: "Our resources and reserves are becoming less and less. We are putting ourselves in a dangerous position."

Dr. Greg M. Miller, superintendent, said: "We are trying to come up with $400,000 to $500,000 (in cuts) in the budget that doesn't affect students. We will come back in April with a plan how to close that funding gap."

Miller said they would look at areas including class size, retirements, support staff contracts and transportation.

"We need to look at all the pieces," he said.

In another matter Tuesday, Miller told the board that making up snow days is becoming a problem. All the makeup days built into the schedule have been used and two more snow days must be made up. One can be made up by reclassifying an in-service day and the other will be made up May 18.

The real problem is if there is more snow. Days can't be added at the end of the year for seniors because they graduate June 5 and may not go to class after graduation by state rules. Graduation can't be postponed because the facility at Kutztown University isn't available later.

But Miller proposed a possible solution taking advantage of odd state rules. Scheduling graduation practice on the Saturday before graduation would count toward the 180 school days required for the seniors. Up to three graduation practices could count as school days, Miller said. Other grades could go to school on June 6, after graduation.

The other possible solution was to use the Thursday before or the Monday after Easter as makeup days but they are holidays in the district's labor contracts. Miller said he broached the idea of working the holiday in return for a floating holiday day to the leadership of the support staff union but was turned down.

"I felt disheartened that they were not willing to work with us," he said.